


That Tender Age

by quiettimenotriottime



Category: Free!
Genre: Alpha Rin, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, M/M, omega Haru
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-29
Updated: 2017-10-29
Packaged: 2019-01-26 01:28:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12545772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quiettimenotriottime/pseuds/quiettimenotriottime
Summary: You remember when you fell in love with him. Your assorted knees and elbows were bloody from a tussle on the asphalt. You were laughing, both of you were, and it came so easy. You felt for one instant the fabric of the universe ripple and expand.





	That Tender Age

You remember when you fell in love with him. Your assorted knees and elbows were bloody from a tussle on the asphalt. You were laughing, both of you were, and it came so easy. You felt for one instant the fabric of the universe ripple and expand.

You kept that secret buried deep, somewhere in the fleshy pith of your belly. It became something warm and private; fed a little each day by his smiles, cradled close in the night like a new baby. It grew and grew, until it became too large and awkwardly shaped, and you wanted to spill it at his feet.

The immensity of your feelings was too much for you, at that tender age, to properly hide with any proficiency. You were, however, not known for much outward display of emotion, so your secret remained safe. You were also unaware of the precise reason for your heart's extra depth and heaviness, the ache in your throat or the mess in your stomach. You knew only that it was pleasant, a sweet, unbearable burn not unlike eating ginger candy straight from the saucepan. 

It was around the middle of the second trimester of elementary school that everything changed. You had cautiously slid from your shell, new and fragile in the brightness and noise, Rin's hand clasped round your wrist to lead your forward. You made friends, tentatively, and learned how to become slowly less insular.

It happened on a Friday night. You were supposed to be going to Rin's for a sleepover, but you'd been feeling ill all day. You were nauseous and running a mild fever, but you're stubborn as a mule and you were determined to go to the sleepover. 

You took the bus to Rin's house, your overnight bag in your lap. The sky outside was brushed red pink, like his eyes, you remember that vividly. The ride seemed to stretch on indefinitely, and your impatient little feet drummed on the back of the seat in front of you. An elderly thing two seats in front frowned at you in mild disapproval, but she was easily ignored. 

By the time the bus pulled up at your stop the sky was brilliant with stars. You felt as if the sky was an ocean and all the galaxies shoals of glimmering fish. You wanted to swim in that sky.

That night, you felt alive in a way you never had before. You felt as one with the universe, thrumming with its energies and tugged by its currents. 

Your stomach was tight with nerves, but your bag was a reassuring weight against your hip as you waited for Rin to answer the door. 

You heard Rin's running footsteps from inside the house. The heavily festooned front door of the Matsuoka residence opened inwards, and Rin sprang at you like a leaping spider, whooping happily. You endured the physical contact with less reluctance than usual. 

The Matsuoka residence was larger than yours, with a bigger TV. It was an old house, warm with memories that had seeped into its walls over the decades. 

Rin's parents were in Okinawa and his sister was staying at a friend's, so the house was empty. You set your bag down on the spare futon in Rin's room and tagged after him into the lounge, half listening to his prattling, the low hum of the air conditioning unit constant and reassuring. 

That night you sprawled together on the couch in an untidy heap, playing Mario Kart and bickering agreeably. Everything was warm in the light of the overhead lamp, infused with a sort of heavy glow. 

You grew soft and sleepy, drifting like space junk in the earth's atmosphere, only half aware of Rin's squawks of dismay or crows of delight as he lost or bested you. You were lifted a little from your body, peering down from above with neither judgement nor interest, merely floating as if on a pillowy cloud.

You only realised you'd fallen asleep when you felt Rin's finger jabbing you persistently in the neck. You swatted at him irritably as he asked you whether you wanted to sleep in his room.

You mumbled assent and stumbled down the corridor, falling onto your futon and tumbling down into sleep's dark womb.


End file.
